


Explosion

by RobinsonsWereHere



Series: Whumptober 2019 [1]
Category: Psych
Genre: (duh), Angst, Angst with no happy ending, Explosions, F/M, Family Feels, Flashbacks, Not proofread at all, Parallels, Whump, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 08:10:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20871005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinsonsWereHere/pseuds/RobinsonsWereHere
Summary: In 1971, Madeline Spencer waits up with her infant son for her husband to escape a hostage situation.In 2018, Shawn Spencer waits to see if his wife has survived a warehouse explosion, with only his mother and two small children there to comfort him.





	Explosion

**Author's Note:**

> I had more time to write today, so today's whumptober installment is a full oneshot instead of a drabble! I;m still linking this fic to tumblr though.

_ **1971** _

_Madeline Spencer paces slowly around her living room, rocking her son to sleep. It’s nearly nine o’clock, and her husband isn’t even home yet. She sighs, staring longingly at the door. Where was he?_

_The big beach house he’d bought after their wedding always seemed too empty when she was home alone. She picks up the television remote, deciding to turn on the news for some background noise._

_The banner that immediately flashes onscreen makes her gasp and clutch Shawn tighter to her chest, **Police Caught in Bomb Threat at Local Station** , it reads._

_“No,” she whispers aloud. “Please, Lord, no.”_

_Shawn shifts in her arms, waking a bit at her distress. Maddie makes hushing noises and kisses his head. “Your dad’s okay,” she says, more to herself than him. “He has to be okay.”_

\---

**2018**

Shawn rocks his daughter slowly back and forth, trying to get her to settle down a bit. “You’re alright, Zo. I know, I know, you have to wait, like, five whole minutes for your bottle to be ready. Such an outrage.”

The three-month-old cries out, presumably in agreement, and he lifts her to his chest to soothe her. “It’s coming, it’s coming. You don’t have to be loud for me to pay attention to you, I promise.”

Stirring the formula, Shawn carries Zoe to her baby swing, near the doorway to the living room. “Is Jake hungry, Mom?”

His mother, whom he’d last seen doing a jumbo puzzle with his two-year-old son, doesn’t reply. Shawn frowns. “Mom?”

“Come look at this, Goose.”

Shawn, lifts his daughter again- Jules has only been back at work for a week, his is _not_ letting this kid out of his sight- and heads for the living room. “What’s up?”

One glance at the TV answers his question. It displays a feed of smoking rubble in the warehouse district, at least three warehouses collapsed in on themselves. **Police Raid Goes Up in Flames**, says the headline.

“Shit,” Shawn mutters, then winces. _No cursing around the kids._ “Uh, f-fudge. Okay. Mom, can you feed Zoe? I think I should try to get Jake into bed.”

Maddie nods. “Of course, Goose.” She squeezes his hand. “She’ll be alright.”

Shawn, choking on fear and dread, can only nod.

\---

_ **1971** _

_An hour later, it’s become clear that the news anchors have no new information. Still, Maddie’s eyes are glued to the screen, her sleeping son still held in her arms. The criminals are a trio that she’s heard Henry complain about for weeks now, accused of multiple counts of armed robbery. Now, they’re trying to get the SBPD to drop charges in exchange for the station not being blown up._

_Maddie swallows hard against the worry, but hot tears still begin to stream down her face. She can no longer bear to watch the unchanging footage of the station, and she closes her eyes. Silently, desperately, she begins to pray_

_Please, Lord, let him be alright._

\---

**2018**

Shawn can only half-listen to the news reports, the reports of unidentifiable victims being pulled from the wreckage. Instead, his eyes scan the rubble for signs of life, searching desperately for a glimpse of blonde hair or maybe a lanky figure pulling a smaller one free. The news cameras are behind a police line, and the air is smoky, so he can’t see much.

“Mom, I can take her,” he says hollowly to Maddie, reaching for his daughter. Maddie hands her over, clearly knowing that he needs his family close to him right now. She pulls him into her chest, and he holds Zoe to his.

“Something like this happened with your father, once,” she murmurs into his hair.

At the moment, Henry is testing a new lagoon that’s said to have good night fishing.

“Yeah? Were you scared?”

“Terrified,”

“So-” Shawn clears his throat as it clogs with tears. “So what do we do now?”

Maddie kisses the top of his head. “We wait, Goose. All we can do is wait.”

\---

_**1971**_

_Maddie is half-dozing on the couch when the phone rings. She’d moved Shawn to his crib a few hours ago, but she herself is unable to rest. At the ring of the phone, she practically leaps from the couch and races to the wall. “Spencer residence, this is Madeline.”_

_“Maddie,” comes Henry’s voice, shaky but alive, so alive, thank god. “Maddie, I- I’m alright. I’m sorry I’m not home… there was a bomb threat at the station.”_

_”I know, Henry,” she tells him. “I saw it on the news. I- I was- God, I was so worried.”_

_”I’m so sorry, Mad,” Henry apologizes. “I’m coming home as soon as I can. I’ll see you in half an hour.”_

_True to his word, Henry is home within half an hour. Maddie wraps him in a hug and cries into his shoulder for a good five minutes. Once he’s kissed away her tears, he heads for Shawn’s nursery, and she follows him. She knows he always needs to see his son after days like this._

_”I’m sorry, Maddie,” he whispers. “I’m sorry you had to worry so much. I love you.”_

_She wraps him in a hug from behind, kissing the back of his neck. “I’m just glad you’re alive, Henry. I love you too.”_

\---

**2018**

It hasn’t even been an hour since the explosion, and Shawn is already a wreck. He’s pacing the living room, Zoe in his arms. She wriggles and wails, maybe sensing his distress, or maybe just in a bad mood. Shawn sighs and rocks her more, but Maddie stands and comes over to him.

“Shawn, you can’t calm a baby if you’re not calm yourself. Either sit down or let me get her to sleep… it’s past her bedtime.”

Shawn nods silently and hands off Zoe. Over the next six and a half minutes, he paces the length of the room twenty times, runs his hand through his hair nine times, and curses under his breath sixteen times. Then, the phone rings.

“Lassie,” he breathes. “Talk to me, man.”

“Shawn,” he says, and Shawn freezes in place. Lassie never uses his first name.

“What happened?”

“Too much. Too much at once. I couldn’t- I couldn’t-” Shawn hears what he thinks is a sob. 

“Lassie…”

“I couldn’t save her. I watched her fall.” He sucks in a breath audible even over the phone, but Shawn can’t find it in him to do the same. “The floor was blown out from under her and I watched her fall and I fell, too, and I tried- I tried to get to her-”

“Don’t,” Shawn begs. “Don’t tell me over the phone. Where-”

“Meet me at the ER, I guess.”

“I will. Call Marlowe, Lassie.”

“Yeah. She’s next. I just- I needed to tell you first.”

Shawn doesn’t respond to that, because what’s he supposed to do, thank him for telling him that his wife is dead? Instead, he clears his throat and nods, even though Lassie can’t see. “I have to go, Lass. I’ll see you at the ER.”

The second he hangs up, Shawn crumples to the ground and cries.


End file.
